I Ditched The DSLR And, Wait For It, Didn't Miss It! What Have You Done To Me Samsung!?

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So this weekend marked a milestone in my photographic adventures - I went fully 100% mirrorless. As a participant in Samsung's Imagelogger program, I've been playing with their NX300 for the past several months and I must admit, I was extremely surprised and pleased with the quality of images it was producing. However, while I used the NX300 to produce most of my personal images, I had always brought it alongside my normal DSLR kit that I was using for jobs. However, things may have just shifted.

I just received the Samsung NX30 and everything I was missing from the DSLR on the NX300, well, those all exist, including, but definitely not limited to, a viewfinder and a comfortable, familiar SLR design and feel. The things missing, I didn’t miss - namely, the weight and bulk of a DSLR. As soon as I put it in my hands, unfamiliar neurons in my neuroplastic brain started firing that led me to a thought…this camera might actually lead me to finally “Ditch The DSLR.” But, well, I still needed to actually use it. So I jumped at the opportunity to go whale watching with a couple friends this past weekend in the waters between Southern California’s coast and the Channel Islands, and not only that, but perhaps more importantly, I actually left behind the Nikon kit for the first time, perhaps, since I’ve had one!

As soon as I was out there and in the ‘zone,’ all thoughts of what I left behind immediately melted away, replaced with thoughts of what I had in front of me - the excitement and energy and possibilities innate in learning a new tool. And being able to see what I was capturing as dictated by the settings I was using, directly in the viewfinder, was quite the ‘aha’ moment for me. It took me a few minutes to get used to the settings and controls - my muscle memories kept reaching for the positioning and layout of my Nikon - but as the minutes went by and I missed the first several whale sightings, my comfort level grew exponentially and by the end, it felt like second nature. I truly felt like this changed the game a bit for me…like I was literally experiencing the evolutionary process. And that rapid machine-gun fire burst mode!?? Woah Nelly!

Anyhow, I must say, if I was just now getting into the photography game, I may very well completely skip over the DSLR and any camera with a mirror in favor of these new systems, and the Samsung NX30 is an EXTREMELY solid choice. More to come in the following months, but wanted to share the first proper set of images I got out of this little beast. Thanks for sending this one out Samsung, and thanks so much for the perfect time Channel Islands Whale Watching - your cast & crew couldn't have been better! We'll be back...

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